According to the figures received by an investigative website, HMRC paid out nearly £400,000 last year as part of little known “bounty payments” for reporting on tax evasion – with the figures rising by over a fifth from the previous financial year.
The reported figures reveal that the value paid for information typically varies from £50 to tens of thousands of pounds, depending on how much tax was recouped as a result of the information; and one of the largest payments is reported to have been paid four years ago when HMRC paid £100,000 for a list of secret offshore accounts held by Britons.
Following the release of the figures, a spokesperson for HMRC described the annual totals as “lumpy” claiming that a few big rewards in a year were able to skew the figures.
The spokesperson added: “If we are recovering many millions of pounds in tax, the payment reflects that.” However they added that payments are at HMRC’s discretion, and the rewards depend on “the value of the information and the quality of the result”, he added, although they are not a fixed percentage of the tax recouped.”
For more information, speak to London Accountants Harris Lipman.
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